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J. D. HOLLIS-TEE.

UAR DOOR BURGLAR ALARM. No. 255,988. Patented Apr. 4,1882.

' UNITED STATES- PATENT Er ca.

JAMES D. HOLLIS'IER, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE HOOKS SMELTING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.

CAR-DOOR BURGLAR-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,988, dated April 4, 1882,

t Application filed February 6, 1882. (Nomodeh) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES D. HOLLISTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Savannah, Georgia, have invented an Improvement in Alarms for Oar-Door Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of my invention is to construct an effective alarm for use in connection with the fastenings of freight-car doors, afurther object being to provide a record ot'thestations at which the door has been opened during a trip.

1n the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a perspective view of my improved alarm apparatus in connection with a common form of freight-car-door fastening; Fig.2, afront view, partly in section; Figs. 3, 4, and 5, a series of diagrams illustrating the operation of the device; and Fig. 6, a perspective view on a reduced scale, showing a modification of part of the invention.

A represents part of the side of the car, and B part of the usual sliding door, which, when closed, is fastened by means of a hasp, a, staple b, and pinf Secured to the car A, adjacent to the staple b, isa casing, D,in which is guided a hammer, d, a spring, 0, being contained in the upper portion of the casing for acting on said hammer. The lower endof the casingis closed in the present instance by means of a screw-cap, f, which is furnished with a central upwardly-projecting nipple, 9.

To one side of the casing is hung a trigger, h, which is acted upon by a spring, 2', and is adapted to support the hammer cl by en gagement with a lug, m, projecting from said hammer, and adapted to a slot, 12, in the casing D. A thumbpiece, 1), on the hammer projects through a slot, s, in the front of the casing.

The hasp a has at the enda hood, F, adapted to inclose the casing D and the parts carried thereby, and having an internal lug, w, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The operation of the deviceis as follows: The hammer (l is raised in the casing D and supported by the trigger h, and a percussioncap, w, is applied to the nipple g. The door being closed, the hasp a is applied to the staple I),the

hood Finclosing the casing D, as shown in Fig. 2. By this movementof the haspthe lug 10 of the hood F, movingin the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 3, is brought in contact with the trigger h and forces the same backward, so as to release the lug m, which drops upon and is supported by the lug w, as shown in Fig 4:. On swinging back the hasp, in order to open the door, the lug w is withdrawn from under the lug m of the hammer, as shown in Fig. 5, and said hammeris forced down upon the cap .10, thus exploding the same and giving the alarm.

I propose in practice to combine the caps :10 with seals, this forming the subject of a separate application for patent, which I have filed herewith. In the present instance the seal consists of a metal ring combined with the flange around the lower edge of the cap.

When a car is loaded and locked at a station the name of the station is stamped upon the ring, and when the car is opened at another station the cap a: is destroyed by the explosion and the stamped ring falls to the bottom of the nipple g. A fresh cap having a ring stamped with the name of the second station is applied to the nipple before the caris again locked, and this ring falls upon the first when the car is opened at a third station, and so on, the nipple being of such a length as'to contain a number of rings or seals, so that when a car reaches the end of a trip and the cap fis removed by the proper agent these seals indicate the number of times and at what stations the car has been opened. This is intended, of course, as a record of the authorized openings of the car,

the alarm being intended to prevent theft from the cars by attracting the attention of the trainhands to any tampering with the fastenings of the car-doors.

In carrying out my invention itis not necessary that the springtrigger h or the hood F should be used in all cases. For instance, in Fig. 6 I have shown a modification in which the lug m, when the hammer is elevated, rests in an offset of the slot n,the hasp carrying, instead of a hood, a plate, F, adapted to fitclosely against the side of the casing D, and having a recess adapted for the reception of the lug m of the hammer. As the hasp is closed the lug is moved out of the offset in the slotn by contact with the-shoulder 20 at the end ofthe recess, and as soon as it is free from the offset the lug drops upon the shoulder 14, formed by the bottom of the recess, so as to be released when the hasp is opened.

I claim as my invention 1. An alarm for car-doorfastenings in which are combined the following elements, namely: a casing, D, on the car, a hammer adapted thereto,meansforsupportingsaid hammer,and a hasp, at, having a lug or shoulder, whereby on closing thehasp the hammer is tripped and supported by said lug or shoulder, and is released on opening the hasp, as set forth.

2. The combination of the car A, having the casing D, with hammer and hammer-support, and the door B, with a hasp, a, havinga hood .set forth.

3. The combination of theoasing D, its trigger h, and hammer d, with lugm, and the hasp a, having a hood, F, with lug w, as set forth.

4. The combination of the casingD, the hammer d, and nipple g with a percussion-cap, as, having a sealing-ring adapted to embrace the nipple and free to slide thereon, as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name 0 to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. JAMES D. HOLLISTER.

Y Vitnesses:

J. S. BOA'IWRIGHT, HENRY U. MANN. 

